Snack Princess
by tfwnorurigf
Summary: Selena begins to live in Standard, but can't find the same joy she found on the battlefield in the Lancers. Sawatari invites her over to his house after a usual dull school day.


The journey was over. Academia was defeated. Leo Akaba was stopped. The Lancers officially disbanded. Everything was over. To maintain peace, each dimension was sealed off between one another, so that no grand-scale invasions could come about again. For duelists like Shun Kurosaki and Crow Hogan, the knowledge their homes were safe from other dimensions like Fusion invading was good enough for them, and as for residents of Standard, dueling stayed as a fun pastime sport, and it brought everyone smiles.

Though, one resident found it hard to smile – Selena. How could she? Everything she believed in was a lie, she lost her home once she found out it was pure evil, and the worst of it all: every duelist in Standard was a chump. That was the worst part about moving dimensions, where Fusion residents were raised as soldiers, Standard residents played for fun, and Selena just couldn't adapt to the change. The students at Miami Second Middle School wanted to test their new classmate's skill, and were absolutely blown away by the Moonlight monsters, and even when Selena went to LDS' halls to train, the students there were completely blown out of the water.

Another hard change to get used to was the residents of Miami, specifically Miami Second's students. Selena was always so used to playing the lone wolf that she couldn't adapt to her newfound popularity, a product of her new classmate status, her dueling skills, and lookalike status to a certain other student at the school. As she darted from class to class, she couldn't help but overhear her fellow classmates.

"Is that Yuzu Hiragi? I swear I saw her a minute or two ago."

"Hey, did Yuzu dye her hair or something? It looks nice today."

"What? That's not Yuzu? Is that her cousin or something?"

"Hey, Yuzu! Can you make it to band practice today?"

Selena groaned every time she had to correct the students – taking special time in trying to explain she was in the Cooking Club, not the Music Club – and it never seemed to get easier. She couldn't blame them; she had the exact same facial features as Yuzu, minus the eyes and hair color, and she was wearing almost the exact same outfit as her, except donning the school jacket and ribbon rather than Yuzu's lack of jacket and tie combination. Still, she found solace in knowing the Lancers of Standard knew who she was, and having fought alongside them, she felt like she could easily depend upon them in class as well. As the end-day bell rung, Selena began to walk off, school bag in tow, ready to go home to the small apartment room Reiji Akaba provided for her upon move.

"Hey, Selena! Wait up!" Selena turned to face the call for her and was greeted by the face of her fellow former Lancer – Shingo Sawatari, a self-proclaimed big shot who ran the school's popularity charts by his excellence in academics, dueling ability, and being the son of the city's mayor. He huffed and puffed as he tried to regain breath when he caught up with her, before dramatically fixing his hair and opening his silver-tongued mouth. "You looked a little bored and lonely in class today, so I couldn't help but wonder; would you like to come over to my place today instead of going to that stuffy little apartment of yours?" Selena couldn't get offended, the place was a dump, and she did like the idea of sitting down and doing her homework in a room that wasn't the size of a shoebox.

"Whatever." she replied. Sawatari tried to contain his excitement as he begun to lead the girl back to his house, unknowingly starting rumors that Yuzu was seen hanging out with Sawatari as they left. The two walked down the streets together for a while quietly, passing by the local residential homes and coming to the town's riverbank.

"So," spoke Sawatari, trying to start conversation, "I heard you got a new deck you're working with. Is it the end of the Moonlight Animals?"

"As if," replied the purple-haired girl, "I'm not like you, swapping decks around constantly." The words stung Sawatari like a squadron of bees.

"Hey!" he responded, "That was only for three decks! I'm holding onto my Abyss Actors until the end!" Sawatari calmed himself a bit before returning to the original topic. "Regardless, you do have a new deck, no? Is it alright if I see it?" Selena pulled out a small leather box from her school bag, black and marked "SIDE DECK" in marker over a piece of masking tape.

"Here." she replied, throwing Sawatari the box. He carefully opened it up and looked at the cards inside, surprised by the contents. Madolche Hootcake, Madolche Puddingcess, Madolche Queen Tiaramisu; it was a full Madolche-themed deck, perfectly constructed to use all the monsters alongside various support cards, Sawatari was stunned by this.

"It's a very well put-together deck!" he complemented. "But I don't understand, Madolches are a Xyz-based deck, I thought you ran Fusion?"

"Fusion monsters are my forte, don't get me wrong," replied Selena, taking back the deck when it was offered to her, "But it got boring to keep tearing everyone apart with Moonlight Cat Dancer, so I thought it would be interesting to give Xyz monsters a try. I've seen good success with these monsters so far, and it definitely helps break the monotony of duels."

"Well, it's just..." Sawatari started, not knowing quite how to word it. "Fusion did attack Heartland and all, so I just thought it's a little strange to run Xyz monsters..." Sawatari prepared for Selena to deck him, thinking he might have offended the girl, but the fist never came.

"I was never involved in the invasion." she replied. "Furthermore, I am not solely a pawn of Fusion, Moonlight was the deck I grew up with; it raised me like I raised it. I am not bound to one form of Special Summoning." Sawatari respected how level-headed Selena was, she was still stern, yet could talk down to earth with someone over something like dueling; it was one of the features he liked best about her.

"I see," he replied, happy to get a good answer, "But even then, why Madolches over other Xyz decks? Is it because you're the star 'Snack Princess' of the school Cooking Club?" This response was met by a swift knee to Sawatari's stomach from the purple-haired girl, looking flustered by her nickname.

"I don't have to explain my reasons to you! The monsters simply interested me is all! And quit it with the nickname!" Selena denied it, but her face really exposed it; she took pride as the star pastry chef of the club, already getting on the radar for culinary school scholarships, and thought the Madolches could represent her love for the club, yet she never was fond of the name "Snack Princess" or the accusation that she ate more sweets than she could cook, completely true as it was.

"Alright, alright! I got it!" Sawatari got up slowly, taking deep breaths as he recovered, and dusted off his uniform. On that, the two continued walking to Sawatari's home.

The two arrived at Sawatari's home, a small, mansion-like home built for a king, and entered the lobby. The lobby was huge, looking like a mansion from a mob film, with a large stairway leading to what Selena assumed was the home office. The walls were adorned with oversized paintings of Sawatari's dad, the mayor, reenacting poses of various historical figures, like Napoleon Bonaparte, King Henry VIII, and George Washington, oversized paintings of a gorgeous woman in various sparkly dresses, and slightly less-oversized paintings of Sawatari as a baby and young child; Selena couldn't decide if Sawatari's dad was a pathetic narcissist or a creepy man obsessed with his child and what she assumed was his wife. Sawatari took note of Selena's puzzled look and tried to put her at ease.

"As you can probably tell, father has a…interesting taste in fine art." His words didn't seem to put her at ease any more. "He doesn't appear to be home right now, probably still visiting that new bridge they opened. Let's just go into the living room, there's less paintings in there." He took Selena's hand and led her to the living room of the home; it was a very roomy area with ornate plush couches outlined with gold, beautiful red walls and black carpeting, a beautiful black coffee table, a 90" flat-screen TV sitting over a fireplace, a mini-bar, and a game corner featuring a pool table and dartboards, clearly used by Sawatari daily.

"How can you afford all of this?" asked Selena, wowed by the departure from her living space.

"Father made a lot of good political moves back in the day and mother was a very famous actress. If you aren't busy later, perhaps we could watch one of her movies together?"

"I'd rather not." curtly replied Selena. "Movies never interested me."

"R-Right…" Sawatari looked a little distressed at being shot down, amplified by seeing how stoic and serious Selena looked. "Well, you must be hungry or something. I have a cake in the fridge, would you like some of it?" Selena's eyes lit up and her mouth started watering; Sawatari couldn't help but think he hit the jackpot with that question. He got up and strode his way over to the kitchen. "Alright, I'll cut a slice for you, don't go anywhere!"

When Sawatari returned with the plate in his hands, he saw Selena practically almost bent over the table, hard at work on algebra problems. He giggled a little and set the plate down next to the sheet of paper before sitting down confidently in a chair overseeing the table. Selena noticed the plate and stopped what she was doing; Sawatari expected her to dig in immediately, but looked confused as he saw Selena start to inspect the cake. She rotated the plate around in her hands, looking at each layer from every angle carefully.

"The cake doesn't look too moist, there's a couple air-holes, and I can see the layers aren't consistent in color…" Selena stuck her finger in the yellow icing and licked it, thinking intensely before speaking again. "Too much honey and too little lemon, but it's still edible. You made this yourself, didn't you?"

"You can tell all that just by looking at the cake?" responded Sawatari in awe.

"Of course." replied Selena. "When we bake in the Club, we're always taught the best qualities of a cake and what it should encompass for maximum flavor. What you made is edible, but I'm pretty sure even our slowest learners could best you." Sawatari gave a sensible chuckle at the analysis.

"Look at you, you really have broken into something of your own since coming here! I guess you really do deserve the title 'Snack Princess'!"

"I told you not to call me that!" Sawatari recoiled when he saw Selena raise her fist, but she just put it down and went right at work eating the cake instead, face puffed up in frustration. Selena took small slices off with the fork, starting from the tip of the cake, quickly stuffed each one into her mouth, and started chewing quickly before swallowing, as if she was a wood chipper. Selena's cold analysis was true and harsh, but Sawatari could see she did like eating the cake, taking each slice quicker than the last.

"I should probably join the Cooking Club to learn how to make one better." Sawatari commented as he watched Selena eat away. "I must confess though, since you're so quickly eating it, the reason there's so many air-holes is because I tried to bake something into the cake, though I don't think you'll taste it."

"What?" asked Selena with a mouth full of cake, "What kind of secret ingredient did you add?" Just then, she bit down on something hard, luckily not enough to break her tooth. She swished it around the wet cake with her tongue, trying to dislodge it from the dough, before spitting it out in her palm. When she moved her hand to her face, she saw it; a small silver ring, with a purple diamond resting in the ornate prong and the name "Selena" engraved beautifully in the bottom. Selena looked confused, but not in a surprised manner. "Sawatari, what's this?"

"Do you like it?" he asked. "It took my entire savings account to afford it, Masumi's dad was the only guy in town with a purple diamond, and he wouldn't give it up for cheap, so-"

"No, I mean what is this?" Selena repeated. "Why on earth would you try to bake a ring into a cake? It's foolish."

"Well, I really wanted to surprise you in some way…" Sawatari replied. "I don't know how to easily put it, but here it goes; I love you, Selena." Selena just sat back quietly, waiting for Sawatari to finish. "Ever since I laid eyes upon you in the Lancers, I always thought you were an interesting girl, albeit crude, and when we dueled together in Synchro as partners, I couldn't help but be fascinated by the way you Fusion Summoned and took down foes with ease. Father wanted to set me up with up-and coming duel stars, actresses, lawyers, politicians, but I didn't want any of them, I stood up to his wishes for the first time in my life, I wanted you. It breaks my heart every time I see you go home to that shack, so could you live here with me, as a life partner?"

"That still doesn't explain the ring." Selena replied stoically. "You do know we're still in middle school, right? Too young to get married?"

"It's a family tradition," Sawatari replied, "Whenever we Sawataris see someone we want to spend our lives with, we gift them a ring before we start dating. My father did it with my mother, and his father before him, as well as all my aunts and uncles." Sawatari got up from the chair and joined Selena on the couch. "I know we're young, but I still don't know your last name, so could you at do me the honor of letting me address you as Selena Sawatari?" Sawatari saw Selena grip the ring tightly, and didn't know whether to take that as a sign she'd explode or not.

"You know, you say the dumbest things sometimes." Selena got in close, but instead of beating Sawatari mercilessly as he expected, she pulled him in for a hug. Her body was warm as she pressed it against Sawatari, she clearly thought the gesture was sweet. "I'll think about it," she spoke softly, "But if we do this, I don't expect you to be such the weakling you were in the Lancers." Sawatari got all fired up from what he interpreted as a "Yes".

"You got it!" he replied, "I'll better my skills as a duelist, and even as a chef! I'll bake a cake so great, that it'll knock the socks off my little Snack Princess!" He moved his hands to his mouth quickly, thinking he blew it then and there, but Selena just kept hugging Sawatari tightly. "Y-You're not mad I just said that?"

"No." she replied, not mad as usual at the nickname. "I don't like it when others call me that, it's like training wheels to not say 'Yuzu', but I can tell that you're coming from the heart with that. I'll let you and you alone call me that, provided you make good on your promise." Selena broke her hug and went back to work finishing the cake.

"So, I guess we're dating then, huh?" asked Sawatari.

"Looks like it."

"And will you move in to one of our guest rooms?"

"Yup."

"Well alright!" cheered Sawatari, fired up by his successful proposal. Selena finished off her cake and set the plate down on the table, completely devoid of crumbs, and wiped her mouth with the napkin provided to her. "Since you don't look busy, want to do a quick duel with your side deck? I could always help you with the homework later tonight." Selena cracked a smile for the first time since she arrived, her eyes looked burning with passion.

"Now you're speaking my language!" she replied, ready for action. Sawatari cleared the coffee table off and took out his Abyss Actors deck, Selena took out her Madolche deck, and both got to work shuffling. "I'll let you take the first move Sawatari, show me the determination you showed in that proposal!" Sawatari looked back with burning eyes, intent on victory.

"I'm not the same weakling from early on in the Lancers! I'll show you how better I got, little Snack Princess!"

"Okay, now you're pushing it." Both duelists finished shuffling their decks and drew their 5 cards, ready to start the game.

"Duel!"


End file.
